A Year of Enchantment

In January 2014, I had this idea: "I'll have lived in New Mexico 22 years come this September!  Seems crazy, since I came here to 'visit' my sister in 1992 and figure out what I was going to do after college (hmm, I seem to be still working on that one). However, in all this time I feel like I haven't seen much of the state. I thought a good goal for 2014 might be to see a bit more of New Mexico (Land of Enchantment or Land of Entrapment, depending on your point of view).  I was hoping for at least one new thing a month, but January is almost over, so I'm calling it 'The Planning Month'." Anyway, I didn't get very far. (I did finally go to Placitas, Explora, and see the Muertos y Marigolds Parade.) So let's try it again - once more, with feeling!

I asked my friends on the Book of Face for some suggestions of must-see destinations in  the state, and this is the list I got from those kind folks:

• Go to Hatch and get a green chile cheeseburger.
• Stargaze in the desert far away from the light pollution.
• Drive to Ruidoso on the mountain side.
• Hike to some natural hot springs.
• White Sands (pole-to-pole hike)
• Carlsbad Caverns
• Roswell
• Sandia Peak Tram (in summer) ✓
• Old Town Albuquerque - see the carved tree behind the San Felipe de Neri Church ✓; Explora ✓; drink hot chocolate by a lit fireplace on Christmas Eve
• Lincoln - take a walking tour of the town
• El Malpais
• Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness
• Chaco Culture
• Acoma Pueblo
• Muertos y Marigolds Parade  ✓
• Santa Rosa Blue Hole
• El Morro National Monument (Inscription Rock)
• Pink Adobe 
• Pecos National Historical Park  ✓

 Here's my own list, compiled from guidebooks and things I've been meaning to see!

• Petroglyph National Monument ✓
• Pie Town ✓
• Truth or Consequences ✓ - Pelican Spa or Fire Water Lodge
• Tinkertown Museum (reopens April 1) ✓
• Paseo del Bosque Trail ✓
• Georgia O'Keeffe's Abiquiu Home and Studio (June-November) ✓
• Space Murals Museum (Organ, NM)
• Smokey Bear Days (first Friday and Saturday of May)
• Dalley Windmill Museum
• Mabel Dodge Luhan House (Taos inn) ✓
• Spaceport America
• Spencer Theater for the Performing Arts (Alto, NM)
• The Lightning Field (Quemado, NM; May-October)
• Earthship Biotecture ✓
• Peter Wolf Toth Whispering Giant Statue (Las Cruces, NM)
• Ken Wolverton's Studio (Cerrillos, NM)
• Aztec's Old Soreheads
• Turquoise Trail
• Rio Grande Nature Center
• Placitas ✓
• Puye Cliff Dwellings ✓
• Recycle Santa Fe Art Festival ✓
• Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad
• Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument
• Capulin Volcano  

We'll see how it goes! Doubtful I'll get to all of these things in the upcoming year, but hopefully I make it out of Albuquerque at some point.  Wish me luck!

P.S. What I've already seen:

I've been to Santa Fe, Taos, Zuni (and stayed at the Historic El Rancho Hotel in Gallup), Madrid, Chimayó (I even attempted the pilgrimage once), Española ("The Lowrider Capital of the World"), and Los Alamos; seen the Very Large Array  (and eaten a green chile cheeseburger at the nearby Owl Bar & Cafe!), Bandelier National Monument, Sandia Crest, and the Trinity Site; attended the Festival of the Cranes at the Bosque del Apache, the Balloon Fiesta, the Burning of Zozobra, and the Santa Fe Opera; toured Shidoni Foundry and Galleries in Tesuque and stopped in at El Rancho de los Golondrinas when it hosted the Santa Fe Renaissance Fair; and spent time in Jemez Springs and Ojo Caliente. For 22 years, this doesn't feel like a lot, especially for a someone who was dragged around 5 continents for the first 20 years of her life (my dad worked for the State Department, which is why we went to Africa, Europe, South America, and Asia - North America is a given - and he was also an avid tourist, so we visited everywhere).

All see: The Atlas Obscura Guide to New Mexico